A Modified 3D Biconical Outflow Model: Spatial Constraints on AGN-driven Outflows

We present a modified outflow model and its application to constrain ionized outflow properties of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). By adding a rotating disk component to the biconical outflow model of Bae & Woo, we find that models with a rotating disk require faster launching velocities ($\lesssim$ 1500 km s$^{-1}$) than outflow-only models to be consistent with the observed gas kinematics of local type 2 AGNs. We perform Monte Carlo simulations to reproduce the observed distribution of gas kinematics of a large sample ($\sim$ 39,000), constraining the launching velocity and opening angle. While the launching velocity is moderate for the majority of the local AGNs, the notable cases of 2 - 5 % show strong outflows with $V_{max} \sim 1000-1500$ km s$^{-1}$. By examining the seeing effect based on the mock integral field unit data, we find that the outflow sizes measured based on velocity widths tend to be overestimated when the angular size of the outflow is comparable to or smaller than the seeing. This result highlights the need for more careful treatments of the seeing effect in the outflow size measurement, yet it still supports the lack of global feedback by gas outflows for local AGNs.

💡 Research Summary

This paper presents a revised three‑dimensional (3D) biconical outflow model for active galactic nuclei (AGNs) that incorporates two critical components missing from the original Bae & Woo (2016) framework: a rotating galactic disk and atmospheric seeing (beam‑smearing). The authors first summarize the original model, which consists of two axisymmetric cones, an exponential flux distribution, a simple dust‑plane extinction, and a linear‑decrease velocity law. They then describe three major modifications.

1. Rotating Disk Component – Using the GalPak 3D package, the authors generate a thin exponential stellar disk with a hyperbolic‑tangent rotation curve. Five disk parameters are introduced: the disk‑to‑cone flux ratio (f_disk/f_cone), half‑light radius (r₁/₂), maximum rotational velocity (V_max,rot), turnover radius (r_t), and intrinsic velocity dispersion (σ₀). The disk shares the same inclination and position angle as the dust plane, ensuring a realistic geometric coupling. The disk’s flux, velocity, and dispersion maps are combined with those of the outflow by flux‑weighted averaging, thereby reproducing the narrow‑core component seen in